1pt4 Thief's Worth
by Lamby
Summary: While Gambit aims to sweep Rogue off her feet, Magneto plots a mutant gang war in Canada, and an awol X-Man gets caught in the crossfire.
1. 01

**When Ilehana Xavier decides something needs doing, you do not argue with her, especially not if your name is Charles, Logan or Remy! Logan/OC1, Remy/Rogue/OC2 triangle **  
  
Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel, Ilehana Xavier to Corrinth, Blaze and all other OCs to me.  
  
A/N: Hello again! Here's the fourth in my Evolution series. In case you haven't read the others, here is a brief summary of the story so far. Ilehana Xavier (Vixen) is the Professor's long lost daughter who came back to Bayville unexpectedly in Female of the Species, dragging her no-good friend Blaze along too. They both joined the X-Men after a run in with Magneto that nearly cost lives, but didn't thanks to the heroic actions of a certain Cajun. His friendship with Blaze was affirmed in Nothin' but Trouble when he again saved her life. However at the end of Empowered Blaze was disciplined by the X-Men for protecting Gambit from Rogue's attack. Simultaneously Blaze lost Gambit to Rogue after the two girls touched, and a child named Stifle had to stop Rogue being overwhelmed by Blaze's firepower, also allowing her to touch (ahem) our Cajun buddy.  
  
Anyway, at this point Blaze is missing, Gambit is smitten on Rogue and hasn't realised that the one kiss they've shared was more Blaze than the Southern belle coz of the transfer of personalities to Rogue, and Ilehana is generally annoyed at everyone, even her pet Wolverine! Enjoy!  
  
01  
  
The club was bouncing, punters dancing, drinking and finding life under the strobe lights. But she was not there to have a good time. This was business, and it was deadly serious. Dressed in black boots, hipsters and strapless top that revealed a toned middle decorated with a single diamond belly-stud, she could have just been another happy clubber. But Blaze was never 'just another' anything.  
  
She spotted her target, the man she was here to see perched enthroned to the left of the dance floor, fenced off from the crowd and heavily guarded as befitted his status. Reaching up behind her neck Blaze undid the clasp of the pendant she was wearing and secreted the large amulet in her balled fist. Timing was everything.  
  
Access to the criminal leader was not a problem to her. She already knew his chief bodyguard, a huge muscular mutant named Crush, on fairly intimate terms. Within seconds she was granted a private audience, could stand in front of her perspective buyer, extend her hand and without saying anything let the amulet drop enticingly to dangle by its chain from her fingers. The ugly thing caught in the beating lights, spinning like it was trying to hypnotise them all. It had certainly hypnotised the man sat in front of her.  
  
"Five hundred." He stated clicking a finger that Crush might bring a case of money forward.  
  
"Don't insult me." Blaze warned in her English-accented voice, catching the pendant in her fist again. "The Trepids will pay me five times that."  
  
"Alright then, a thousand." The man barely batted an eyelid. Blaze turned her slender back on him and started to walk away, long red curls bouncing as she walked. Smiling the gang leader called her back. "Three thousand, Blaze, and not a coin more."  
  
"Done." Blaze replied, tossing the pendant through the air for the gang leader to catch with a flourish. Crush smiled, baring his teeth as he handed Blaze a full briefcase of small notes. The English thief played their games very well, for an outsider.........  
  
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Ilehana Xavier, the telepathic and animorphing daughter of the famed Professor Xavier, removed the Cerebro helmet with a heavy heart. She'd expended so much to offer her friend Blaze a way out of the criminal underworld. But now it seemed it had all been in vain, Blaze was right back where she'd started, running wild and in trouble. This thieving was a cry for help, a cry to anyone who'd listen to stop Blaze slipping out of control. And Ilehana didn't even know exactly where Blaze was, could do nothing.........  
  
(Roll titles........................) 


	2. 02

Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel, Ilehana Xavier to Corrinth, Blaze and all other OCs to me.  
  
A/N: All reviews greatly appreciated.  
  
02  
  
A great silver orb hovered with a glowing hum some fifteen feet above the ground, before turning and making its way slowly to the horizon with leisure. Behind it, the large metallic dome that had been Magneto's lair for some time sank like a liquid alloy back into the earth from whence it came. The only clue of it ever being there was a bare patch of ground on the otherwise snow-covered terrain.  
  
Four men watched Magneto leave, his lackeys better known as Sabretooth, Pyro, Colossus and Gambit. Once the orb had truly disappeared, Sabretooth was the first to leave, solitary predator stalking off on foot. Pyro, with a "Ho-hum." plucked up his ski poles and set off without a glance back. Gambit and Colossus exchanged brief shrugs before each revved their snowmobile engines and rode off in opposite directions. Gambit didn't care in the slightest what happened to the other three. They were under collective orders not to leave Bayville, to keep an eye on the X-Men. And Remy knew exactly which X-Man he'd like to keep both his red-on-black eyes firmly on.........  
  
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"Hey Rogue, it's your stalker!" One of the other schoolgirls chirped, making her classmates giggle. The teacher rolled her eyes and ignored the class as Rogue's eyes followed her fellow pupil's accusing finger out the window to the paved sidewalk. Gambit was leaning against a tree looking bored. Before Rogue could decide if she wanted to defend or condemn him, the school bell rang to signify the end of the day. Rogue didn't hurry outside, but neither did she hang about longer than usual. Why couldn't she make her mind up about him? Was it because he was Magneto's man, or because he should have been someone else's? But Blaze was long gone.........  
  
"Magneto not keepin' you busy swamp rat?" Rogue greeted Remy with a traditional sceptical expression. He smiled and pocketed the pack of cards he had been playing with, but didn't lean up off of the tree.  
  
"Not exactly." He replied, not wanting to be the one who told the X-Men that his boss was temporarily absent. They might get ideas above themselves. "You got plans tonight Cherie?"  
  
"Why, you gonna make me an offer I can't refuse?" Rogue asked, striding past him and tossing her short bobbed hair back from her face. Scott would be leaving in five minutes; she had to meet her ride.  
  
Gambit leaned up off the misused tree and sighed, shaking his head as he strode forwards to pace besides Rogue. His hand went in his back pocket and pulled out two slips of paper.  
  
"I don't t'ink you wanna refuse these Cherie. Two tickets for the gig tonight........."  
  
"I don't do well in crowds an' you know it Cajun!" Rogue snapped, pointing an accusing finger at him.  
  
"You didn't let me finish." Gambit replied patiently. "These VIP tickets, for the VIP boxes......... No crowds, no queues, jus' you an' me Cherie."  
  
For a minute Rogue was shocked, then excited, then adamant. Chances were Remy hadn't got those tickets legally. Professor Xavier would most certainly not approve.  
  
"I don't think so Gambit." Rogue jutted her chin out stubbornly. "I ain't gonna hang out with some lackey of Magneto's for anythin'." And with that she stormed off, barely making it to Scott in time for her ride.  
  
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Again Ilehana had tracked down her friend with Cerebro. She saw the whole incident through Blaze's eyes, felt the same dread, the same pain.........  
  
"Word on the street is you've been dealing with the Rasps." The blue haired, white skinned woman accosted Blaze in an alley.  
  
"I deal with who I want to, Electra, and not you nor any of your precious Trepids can do anything about it." Blaze snapped, making to walk right past the blue-plastic clad woman. As she did, Electra shot out a hand to grab Blaze's trailing wrist. The force of the electricity pumping from Electra and into Blaze sent the redhead slumping to her knees, unable even to cry out. Electra's other hand reached for the base of Blaze's neck, tapping into her spine and flooding it with sheer agony.  
  
"This may not be your war, little thief!" Electra snarled into Blaze's ear. "But don't think you're the first to try and play both sides to get the best deal. I needn't tell you what happened to the last thief who double crossed the Trepids." With that the blue-haired woman let go, throwing Blaze forward to lie gasping on the cold, grubby floor, and disappeared.  
  
Ilehana left Cerebro still in a kind of daze. She'd walked straight into Logan before she knew where she was. He grabbed her gently by the arms, eyes worried as she shied away from him briefly.  
  
"You alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."  
  
"I hope not." Vixen replied, bristling defensively. "If I have, then it's our fault, for driving one of our pack away........."  
  
"Look, babe, its not our fault. Blaze left through her own choice remember?"  
  
"Don't you 'look babe' me." Ilehana snapped, unaware how like her rival Jean Grey she sounded as Logan stepped back in shock. What on earth had happened to freak Vixen out like this? "She needs our help, but she's too proud to ask for it. And ashamed. And afraid, and a thousand and one other feelings........." She saw the incomprehension on his face and almost snarled at him. Restraining herself, she put her hand to his chest and stalked past him, pushing him away once again. And he'd thought they were getting somewhere with this relationship thing......... 


	3. 03

Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel, Ilehana Xavier to Corrinth, Blaze and all other OCs to me.  
  
A/N: All reviews greatly appreciated.  
  
03  
  
"You did what?" Kitty Pride, Rogue's roommate, had finally dragged out of her what had happened with Gambit.  
  
"I turned him down." Rogue repeated from her seat sat on the edge of her bed, hands on her knees. Kitty was sat cross-legged on hers and was practically bouncing up and down with giddiness.  
  
"But VIP tickets Rogue! I mean if you didn't want to go with Gambit you could've, like, got them off him for us!"  
  
"Maybe you should go find Gambit and ask if you can have my ticket?" Rogue retorted back. Did Kitty think this was because she'd gone off Gambit? Had she? "Oh I'm so confused!"  
  
Kitty watched in shock as Rogue turned and flopped belly down on her bed. Was her strong friend actually crying? But the shuddering of Rogue's shoulders passed as Kitty went to her friend's side.  
  
"Rogue, are you okay?"  
  
"I think so........." Came back the muffled response. "I mean, I do like him......... If only he didn't work for Magneto........."  
  
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"Blaze left the X-Men of her own free will, Ilehana." Professor Charles Xavier counselled his daughter much the same as Wolverine had done. It met with a similar response.  
  
"And if she hadn't ever been an X-Man? If she was just some young girl in trouble? Would you turn down my request for the X-Men to help then?" Ilehana growled, meeting her father's eyes and not backing down. "If she slips too far back into who she was I can guarantee she'll start to lose control of her powers again. People, including Blaze, may get seriously hurt. This isn't about me, Dad.........."  
  
"I never said that it was, Ilehana." He replied cautiously. "Neither did I think it. I know your motives are just, but Blaze does not want the help of the X-Men."  
  
"I knew you'd been checking up on her too." Ilehana accused him. "You know what she's involved with?"  
  
"Criminal activities, gang warfare, the most dangerous types of mutants........." Xavier sighed. "Its not so simple, Blaze has involved herself in these activities voluntarily. It hardly makes her the best role model for the children, and I have to put their needs first Ilehana."  
  
"Blaze is just a child!" Vixen snapped. "She's no older than Scott or Jean, for all her pretences! And if you won't send the X-Men after her, then I'll go myself." Immediately she regretted her angry words, sensing via her telepathy her father's dismay that she would up and leave again. Ilehana knew he was fighting to hide his feelings from her, but as always her father had slightly underestimated Ilehana's own telepathy in relation to his own. He didn't want to lose her again so soon after her finally coming home, accepting that this was where she belonged. Still, she'd not forgiven any of them for their treatment of Blaze, and in her anger she was more adamant than ever. It would do him no good to argue with her over this.  
  
"Of course I'll let you go Ilehana." Professor Charles Xavier had a sad echo to his voice. Ilehana didn't point out that she hadn't asked for his permission. "But I'd rather you didn't go after Blaze alone. Why don't you take Logan with you?"  
  
"Dad," Ilehana began more patiently than she was feeling, more patiently than she'd be with any of the other X-Men, Logan included. "Logan's your insurance. Whatever happens, I'll come home for him."  
  
"But not for me?" Xavier asked rhetorically with a wry smile. They both knew that Ilehana would not knowingly hurt her father; she was as loyal to him as ever. But the burgeoning relationship she was beginning with Logan was a different type of incentive. She could be loyal to her father from the other side of the world, but Logan she wanted to be around......... "Who would you suggest then?"  
  
"I have a good idea who might be very useful to me." Ilehana answered. "But I've also a feeling your not going to approve."  
  
"And if you find Blaze?" Xavier ignored the last comment, let Ilehana judge for herself who she needed. "What then? Do you think you can convince her to return to Bayville?"  
  
"Would you take her back if I did?" Ilehana replied. "Could the X-Men ever accept her again, after what she did?"  
  
"That's not a question I can answer for them." The Professor cautioned. "It seems wherever Blaze is involved, emotions will run hot."  
  
Ilehana nodded, and stood to leave, flicking her long blonde ponytail back over her shoulder and predatory eyes flashing.  
  
"I guess that's a bridge I'll cross when I come to it, no point in worrying about 'what ifs?' before the hunt has even begun. I just know I need to find her......... Before something really bad happens to her." 


	4. 04

Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel, Ilehana Xavier to Corrinth, Blaze and all other OCs to me.  
  
A/N: All reviews greatly appreciated.  
  
04  
  
Rogue had sneaked out of the mansion dressed to impress. Now she stood hugging herself in the cold outside of the concert whilst the rest of Bayville flooded in through the doors. She had no idea if Remy would show by himself or not, or even if he'd turn up with another girl. But she had to try, or she'd never forgive herself.  
  
Finally she spotted him, alone, coming towards her with a smile on his face. But just as he was about to sweep her off her feet and into the concert, there was a screech of tyres in the roadway. Vixen's jeep was jet black with mud-splattered panels and X-alloy wheels. She leapt out of the car like a woman possessed, accosting Gambit halfway to Rogue as the Southern belle looked on astonished. Gambit was taking Ilehana Xavier to the concert? Rogue stormed forward with that thought, determined to defend her ticket.  
  
"......... You can help me or I'll damn well castrate you, Cajun! At least that'll get you out of Rogue's hair."  
  
"I ain't in Rogue's hair." Gambit droned. "An' if Blaze don't wanna be found, then she don't wanna be found."  
  
"What are you talkin' about?" Rogue interrupted, but was ignored.  
  
"What do I have to do to get across to you that neither you nor Blaze has a choice in this! I'm not leaving my friend thinking that the only way she can survive is by being a thief! She has a home here and both of us know that we never should have let her leave!" Vixen's predatory eyes bore into Remy's red-on-black ones. She won; Remy dropped his gaze first and shrugged.  
  
"Whatever. Blaze toasts us, it your fault."  
  
"Hey." Rogue snapped, not liking the sound of this one bit. How come Blaze was messing up her life even when the irritating redhead wasn't here? "What about the concert?"  
  
"I'se sorry Chere." Gambit was genuine, holding out the tickets in his hand. "Some other time, okay?"  
  
"Okay........." Rogue replied, blushing as he took her gloved hand, kissed it and placed the tickets in her fingers.  
  
"I've contacted Kitty, Rogue." Ilehana acknowledged her fellow X-Man finally. "She's on her way down here."  
  
"Thanks." Rogue replied, but Vixen and Gambit were already leaving.  
  
"One more thing." Ilehana retorted, smiling as she walked Remy to her car. "You are not going anywhere with me dressed like that."  
  
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"So Gambit's gone off with Vixen?" Kurt asked Kitty and Rogue the next day at lunchtime. They were all sat at the picnic tables behind the school, enjoying the sunshine and the break from lessons. The two girls nodded simultaneously. "Totally weird." Kurt commented. "I mean, I thought he was the bad guy? Now he's working for the X-Men?"  
  
"No." Scott was adamant. "This isn't an X-Man mission that Ilehana's gone on."  
  
"How do you know?" Rogue asked indignantly. She quite liked the idea of Gambit joining the team, even if it was only temporarily.  
  
"I asked Logan, and he didn't know anything about it. In fact he was really annoyed when he heard. I don't think Ilehana had his agreement about this at all." Cyclops took a heavy slurp of his soda and looked round at his friends.  
  
"Who can blame him?" Jean was sympathetic. "I mean, one minute Vixen's smitten on Wolverine, the next she's off with some other guy. I do not understand her."  
  
"Do we even know where they've gone?" Bobby asked. "Or why? Are they coming back?"  
  
"They've gone after Blaze." Rogue filled in with a sigh.  
  
"Well that explains why its not an X-Man mission, why Vixen didn't tell Wolverine or anyone what she was up to." Jean answered. "Why would the X- Men want to help that traitor? I think we need to talk to the Professor about this, I mean, I don't know about you guys but I for one am not all for welcoming Blaze back with open arms."  
  
"Surely," Rogue began hesitantly, not happy that she was the only one to say this, but somebody had to. "If Blaze had wanted to come back, she wouldn't have left in the first place? Ilehana has bin warnin' us that it wasn't over with Blaze. We don't know that they're gonna bring her back. Maybe she's up to somethin' so bad, they're gonna put a stop to it?"  
  
"I think you're all over reacting." Magma had been Blaze's pupil, had spent more time with her than any of the others, and she didn't like the way they were turning on Blaze like this. "Blaze needed some time out, that's all. She hasn't betrayed us, and she's not a traitor. Its not like she's gone and joined Magneto, is it? At least, that's what I think."  
  
"I think your right, Omara." Scott agreed, and so ending the conversation despite Jean's troubled pout. "And its time we all headed for class anyway. Later team." 


	5. 05

Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel, Ilehana Xavier to Corrinth, Blaze and all other OCs to me.  
  
A/N: All reviews greatly appreciated.  
  
05  
  
Gambit hadn't felt this at home in a long time. Working for Magneto was a far cry really from his upbringing; running battles and terrorism for mutant rights was one thing, but Remy le Beau would always be a thief.  
  
Ilehana had been as happy as he was to split up and comb Vancouver separately. Cerebro had pinpointed Blaze as being somewhere in the Canadian city. Now as the moon began to set, in the latter half of the deep night, he had pinned down the places he thought Blaze most likely to be, the places he'd be if he were living here.  
  
Down a side street the neon sign of a crummy nightclub flickered pink and orange. Music powered through the walls in a part-demonic force. The bouncers at the door were packing guns, each man double Remy's mass. He put on his sunglasses, masking not only his mutant eyes, but also exactly where he was looking.  
  
The bouncers admitted him with snarls worthy of the gorillas they were. They'd be keeping an eye on him, in case he started anything on their turf, but Remy couldn't help that. He had no intention of causing trouble, especially not if Blaze was about. He'd been close to being fried by her firepower when by accident it was transferred to Rogue. He didn't want to repeat the experience.  
  
Gambit wasn't surprised to not spot Blaze in the club, but he knew he was close when he spotted a creepy looking guy nosing through a bland folder of loose paper. His contacts had said of everything, Blaze excelled in finding and selling information, something about a photographic memory that made her really good at it. Gambit headed for the back door, certain Blaze hadn't passed him on the way in.  
  
The fire door swung open easily into the alleyway. Rubbish floated like children's bubbles on the light breeze. Rats scuffled and squabbled somewhere close, Gambit's feet disturbing grime that seemed almost alive. But more importantly someone else's feet had done the same not long before him. Under the dim glow of the streetlights, the waning yellow of the moon, Gambit followed the alleyway and the footsteps for a good ten minutes. He'd almost given up hope when suddenly he spotted someone moving in front of him. He stopped, eyes scanning the gloom as he called out "Blaze?"  
  
The strong hand closed around his neck from over his left shoulder. His attacker's huge right hand pinning both of Gambit's behind his back as the young New Orleans born mutant was slammed up against the wall. Remy's eyes bulged in their sockets as he gasped for breath and writhed for freedom. His mutation-empowered hands grasped at nothing, striving to cause some damage. His attacker made no sound, his phenomenal strength the only language he needed.  
  
"Let him go Crush." A familiar female voice barely whispered in a tone that commanded authority. Blaze, the English-born thief with awesome firepower and a taste for the dangerous stepped out of the shadows. Gambit could just make her out, slender figure dressed in black, long curls shifting in the night breeze, ball of fire sat caressed in her hand.  
  
"He up to no good!" Gambit's attacker protested with a rough grunt. "Sneakin' around back here!"  
  
"I said let him go. Don't make me force you Crush." Blaze threatened ominously while her firepower ran like spiders webs around her, illuminating the darkness. Gambit sunk to his knees dazed as Crush let him go, backing off. "Bright of you." Blaze smiled. "Now scat."  
  
Only when with much mutterings the colossal mutant had up and left did Blaze relax her attacking stance and offer Gambit a warm hand up.  
  
"I'd ask what you're doing here." She started, voice still hard and unfriendly. "But the outfit says it all. How long did it take for Rogue to brainwash you?"  
  
"I ain't bin brainwashed Petite." He snapped back, tugging his trench coat further closed around his new X-uniform; blue-black outfit with a broad red X across his chest. "I'se only wearin' this to keep your Claws happy."  
  
"Ilehana's here?" Blaze wasn't really surprised, not like she was to see Remy in an X-uniform. But then again, to Ilehana the uniform was a mark of pack and she like Blaze had adopted Gambit as a friend, so surely a friend was pack?  
  
"Yeah she here. She worried you be gettin' in trouble without us." There was a smile on his lips, but worry in his eyes as she looked up at him. He hadn't been all that worried about the redhead after she left Bayville. Oh he'd missed her friendship, but she could take care of herself, or so he'd thought. But there was hurt, anger and betrayal in her eyes now, and suddenly he wasn't so sure. Maybe Vixen had been right all along, and they never should have let her leave.  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Dawn was a grey zephyr drifting over the city. Ilehana was already waiting for them when Gambit pushed open the door to Vixen's hotel room. Blaze followed him in; chin set stubbornly, arms crossed defensively across her chest. She'd barely made it through the doorway before Ilehana began to speak, voice colder than the bitter early morning breeze.  
  
"As the sun rises, maybe the dawn will shed some light on your darkness, Blaze."  
  
"Don't talk like a wolf." Blaze began, voice seething hot. Gambit, unnerved a little by the power of these two young women as their eyes locked across the room, made himself comfortable leaning against a side wall. Deliberately he did not choose sides, folding his arms and keeping his mouth shut. Blaze continued. "A wolf would know when its opinion wasn't wanted."  
  
"A wolf wouldn't abandon its pack." Ilehana replied, predatory eyes betraying her anger. "But it seems we are both guilty of that."  
  
"And so you get to your point?" Blaze questioned sarcastically. "You want me to troupe back to Bayville with my tail between my legs and grovel apologetically for a bunch of righteous kids? Get stuffed. They don't want me, and I don't need them. Or you." 


	6. 06

Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel, Ilehana Xavier to Corrinth, Blaze and all other OCs to me.  
  
A/N: All reviews greatly appreciated.  
  
06  
  
Gambit spoke up then, mostly to break up the uncomfortable silence that threatened to break into violence as both young women scowled at each other.  
  
"You all done with the doggy comparisons? I know you ladies can be real bitc........."  
  
"Shut up!" Both young women turned their anger on him, forcing him to hold up his hands appeasingly and stop talking. They both ignored his attempt at a contagious smile.  
  
"You don't have a choice." Ilehana continued, looking back at Blaze. "You're losing control again, aren't you? Without me or my Dad to help, your powers are taking over." Some of the coldness dropped out of Ilehana's voice as she stepped forward to her friend. "I've seen you struggling with them, through Cerebro, like when that blue-haired mutant accosted you?"  
  
"You've been spying on me telepathically?" Blaze stepped back from her friend, unfolding her arms. "Why does it not surprise me? I was sick of feeling guilty when I hadn't been caught."  
  
"It won't take much for the X-Men to accept you back again." Ilehana pressed on with more confidence than she felt on the subject. One step at a time, Vixen, she counselled herself. "A promise that you'll make an effort, play by the rules........."  
  
"Stop it." Blaze snapped. She could feel her terrible powers tugging at her, distracting her. It was always there these days, but now it was building to an inferno. Did Vixen really want to push Blaze over the edge? Would Ilehana be willing to pay the highest price to be proved right, Blaze was struggling to remain in control of her powers? Blaze walked away quickly, throwing open the sliding glass door to the balcony outside, pushing down on her troublesome, murderous powers and gulping fresh air as though it would cool the dragon's fire inside her. Ilehana let her go, she'd run out of things to say to her friend and she would not let Blaze think Vixen might have used telepathy to convince the younger girl. Gambit however did not find himself so tongue-tied.  
  
Blaze was stood on the balcony, hands resting elegantly over the railing, long hair lifted slightly in the soft breeze. The low dawn light was politely hiding her tears, but he didn't need to see them to know she was crying. He resisted the temptation first to walk away, then to go and comfort her. So he just stood there, waiting, until she turned around to face him.  
  
"You wanna go back Petite," He began gently. "Or you wouldn't have come see Vixen at all. You don't wanna be a thief no more."  
  
"Once a thief, always a thief." Blaze replied sullenly, knowing that to him at least those words needed no explanation. "Besides, I can't go back. You heard Ilehana; she wants me to promise to keep the other X-Men safe. I can't do that, can't promise that I wont do the same thing all over again........." The same thing, he thought, did she mean protecting him or turning against the X-Men? "How would you feel," She continued more nastily, "If after all this I went back only to get your precious Rogue killed? Would this trip have been worth it?"  
  
The spite in Blaze's words as she once again brought up Gambit feelings for Rogue threw Gambit a little. His own tone was angrier than he'd meant it to be when he replied.  
  
"You t'ink this all about Rogue?" He asked, his outrage making Blaze meet his eyes, shocked. He'd never spoken to her like this before. "It your life you put in danger, it you the X-Men are worried you might get killed! At least when you in Bayville, they got a chance to protect you, an' I can keep an eye on you........." He walked to her, put his hands on each of her shoulders as she dropped her eyes. She was shaking, Remy realised, and she really didn't think that she could just go back. What did she want, a passage of fire? "Amie?"  
  
She didn't reply, knowing at that moment she could either accept the friendly hug he offered her, or turn and walk away. She knew what she wanted to do, but instead she pulled away and headed back inside.  
  
"I can't go back." Blaze began, raising her hand to stop Vixen's next tirade before she could start. "Not right now at least. The war between the two mutant gangs I've been dealing with is about to spill onto the streets. They're being driven to it, fighting for the approval of someone else, a third party.........."  
  
"Do you know who?" Vixen asked, awe in her voice now as she realised Blaze hadn't been playing these dangerous games without a reason. Suddenly she felt a little guilty, the animal-metamorph should have had more respect for her friend than that.  
  
"I have an idea." Blaze answered sternly, turning now to Remy. "Does your boss know you're here, or had he already left before Ilehana recruited you?"  
  
"He'd already left." Gambit answered unwillingly. This did not sound good to him.........  
  
"Magneto's not in Bayville?" Ilehana was shocked. "Then where is he? And how did you know before the X-Men, Blaze?"  
  
"I joined the X-Men more than partially to get my own back on that scumbag." Blaze pointed out by way of explanation. "He's here, making the gangs of mutants fight for the right to work for him. I have no doubt he's hoping to show the world that the mutant population runs way beyond Bayville, and is way more dangerous than a bunch of school children. And I have to stop him." 


	7. 07

Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel, Ilehana Xavier to Corrinth, Blaze and all other OCs to me.  
  
A/N: All reviews greatly appreciated.  
  
07  
  
"You wanna take Magneto on by yourself, Cherie?" Gambit was outraged; this turn of events did not suit him at all. If Magneto saw him in this ridiculous uniform, with two X-Men, he'd be dead before he could blink! "Tu est folle!"  
  
"You don't think I can do it?" Blaze asked sweetly. "I take it you're not offering to help me? You're too much of a coward for that Remy le Beau."  
  
"Why haven't you reported this to the X-Men?" Ilehana was equally irritated.  
  
"Because its my fight." Blaze answered, fire roaring manically behind her eyes, showing to all in the room how close she was to being out of control.  
  
"Not anymore." Vixen told her. "I'm calling for back up. I don't know how you think you can take on two mutant gangs and Magneto, and maybe I don't want to know. But from now on, this is an X-Man mission."  
  
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The two mutants entered the chosen alley at opposite ends, each coming from the portion of the city their gang called their own. The border was guarded by a helmeted, shadowy figure that hovered a hand span from the ground. Magneto had been waiting for them.  
  
"So, emissaries, the time is come. The war between the Trepids and the Rasks will end; the victors serve all of mutant-kind as my newest allies." The Master of Magnetism paused for effect, looking down on the two mutants with contempt on his face. This had been too easy to arrange, and soon the whole world would know the terror, the might of mutants. Then they would not dare oppose him. "The trial will begin tonight. May the strongest opponent win."  
  
With a whisper of undeniable power Magneto propelled himself onto the roof of the nearest building, using his magnetic power on the iron girders that were the complex's framework. There his metallic orb waited, gaping open like a wound. For a moment, the two mutants below watched his departure, before their eyes drifted to glare at each other.  
  
"Until tonight then, Crush." Electra spat like sparks when lightning strikes.  
  
"Until tonight." Crush returned the comment with a snarl, muscles in his jaw clenched tight. It took a second, but both turned and walked away, not looking back but listening hard for any sound of foul play. For once, no attack came from either side.  
  
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"Suit up team." Wolverine was in a foul mood. He'd been in a foul mood since Ilehana left without telling him. Okay, she'd probably had a point, he wouldn't have let her go off after Blaze with only Magneto's lackey for company, and he obviously didn't fit in with her plans. And it had taken all of Professor Xavier's persuading to keep Logan at the mansion so far. But now Vixen had called in to request back up, his mind was racing with all the things he'd have to say to her for treating him like one of the kids. And none of them were things he'd say around the kids himself. "Seems Magneto's been on his travels, so we get a trip to good ole' Canada."  
  
"Prep the X-Jet, Scott." Xavier tried to calm the situation. The team were catching Wolverine's turbulent mood, and that wasn't a good thing. "Logan, can I have a word?"  
  
A few moments later as Kitty, Rogue and Kurt listened in from round the corner, you could have been forgiven for thinking the mansion was collapsing in on itself as Logan roared "WHAT?"  
  
"I said you are not going, Logan. Listen to me, your emotions are running too high at the moment. You and my daughter need to sort out your issues of trust, that much is certain, but this mission is neither the place nor the time for it."  
  
"All right Charles." Wolverine admitted defeat like a scolded cat, sulkily. "But you'd best warn her I've got a few things to say when she gets back here."  
  
"Don't worry Logan." Xavier smiled, sensing what was really bothering the Wolverine; he wouldn't be there to help her if things turned ugly. "I'll make sure Ilehana comes home safe."  
  
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"I'm outta here." Gambit moved to the door even as Ilehana was signing off talking to the mansion. Blaze glanced at him worriedly, so he gave what explanation he felt he owed. "I did what I said I would, I'se found you for Claws. This t'ing not part of the deal, I'm no X-Man to be fightin' Magneto."  
  
"But you'll go tell him we're on his trail?" Ilehana asked sharply, but Gambit shook his head.  
  
"I'se supposed to be in Bayville, an' dressed normal. It not worth me goin' findin' him." Ilehana nodded, but her eyes were narrow. She'd hoped he'd have more guts than this to stand up to Magneto by now. Gambit shut the door behind him with a thud. Ilehana turned to Blaze.  
  
"Can I count on you, or are you leaving too?"  
  
"I'm going to play this by ear." Blaze muttered, staring hard at her fingernails for no apparent reason other than it meant she didn't have to meet Vixen's eyes. "Lets see if it really would be as easy as you said for the X-Men to accept me back."  
  
Vixen's stomach rolled. Blaze knew she'd made that bit of her speech up, she was certain of it. So now Blaze's entire future with the X-Men would rest on the first reactions of a bunch of emotional and adrenaline-pumped teenagers. Either way, this argument would soon be very much over. 


	8. 08

Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel, Ilehana Xavier to Corrinth, Blaze and all other OCs to me.  
  
A/N: All reviews greatly appreciated.  
  
08  
  
The X-Jet landed on a rooftop where Vixen and Blaze were already waiting, dressed in uniform. Stretching and yawning after the journey, the X-Men piled off the plane one by one, Scott, Jean, Rogue, Kitty, Kurt, Storm, Beast, and finally Xavier himself in his wheelchair. Before Ilehana could address them telepathically, Rogue, disappointed that Gambit was nowhere to be seen, had already spat her first insult at Blaze.  
  
"What gives you the right to wear that uniform, Blaze? You left the X-Men, or don't you remember?"  
  
"Rogue, be quiet." Xavier snapped, picking up on Ilehana's message before Blaze had a chance to snap back. "Its good to see you are alright, Blaze."  
  
"Thank you Professor." The Englishwoman replied stonily as Beast and Storm both gasped to see the amount of power dancing behind Blaze's eyes. Ilehana had been right; Blaze was very close to losing it completely. Surely, they thought as if one, the Professor wouldn't let Blaze get involved in this fight? Neither adult mutant was sure she could be trusted. "If you'll follow me, I can tell you all I've learned........."  
  
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"If you don't mind me askin', Professor, how do we know Blaze can be trusted on this? She don't look exactly stable." Rogue voiced the question that had been worrying all the X-Men whilst Blaze had stepped outside. Both Xaviers knew the redheaded thief was listening, but they could hardly interfere in this conversation or risk Blaze's wrath.  
  
"Rogue's right Professor." Scott piped up. "I mean, I'm all for giving her a second chance, but Blaze is, well, more than a little scary right now."  
  
"You all think this way?" Xavier asked them, looking from one X-Man to the next, taking in their uncertain nods. Xavier sighed, and glanced to his daughter for guidance. Vixen didn't get a chance to answer.  
  
"Do what you think is best." Blaze's voice was quiet, but touched with a violent undertone. Her eyes shone in the darkness of the open doorway. "I won't force you to accept me. I could," She paused, meeting Rogue's eyes with a hardened hatred. "But I won't." And with that, she left. No one tried to hide their sighs of relief.  
  
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Magneto stood as though he was cast in iron, clad in his cape and helmet on top of a high-rise building. Eyes scanning the darkness just above the streetlights, his mutant power alerting him to the approaching helicopters before he could make them out against the skyline. A police car chase was being filmed and broadcast live to the nation as he watched, all arranged by the Master of Magnetism of course. People knew mutants existed, now to make the world afraid.  
  
The Trepids and the Rasks were waiting for his signal, flexing mutated muscle and readying disturbing amounts of power. One girl caught his eye on the side of the Trepids. Stood shoulder to shoulder with the powerful Electra, Mercury could command metal to turn liquid, would use it to drown her opponents. She could not rival Magneto of course, but it was interesting to know there were mutants out there with similar powers to his own.  
  
He did not need to speak to command them to fight for him. A raised arm dropped suddenly to his side sent the two warring factions charging towards each other down the broad thoroughfare. Then, without warning, a cloud of grey smoke appeared in the centre of the makeshift battlefield. So, the X- Men had been keeping an eye on him? Well, perhaps he had underestimated their abilities. No matter, by the end of this night they would be more deeply embroiled in the battle for mutant superiority than they ever could imagine. That is, if any of them were still alive.  
  
Cries of treachery and outrage came from both gangs, the similarities between the two sets of enemies amusing Magneto as he watched. Mystique's son, Nightcrawler, shook his head as if to clear the fogginess that his teleporting caused in the air. His teammates that had teleported in with him, Cyclops, Rogue and Jean Grey, were already fighting for their lives. Through the wall of the building opposite Shadowcat tugged through an overlarge grey wolf, Vixen, and an even larger blue Beast. The air around them all turned cold enough to snow, the weather-witch Storm making her presence riding the winds felt by all sides.  
  
For a moment both gangs fell back, cut off from their enemies by these meddling children and their teachers. But then with renewed fury both gangs attacked, bolts of electric energy from Electra lighting up the area with blue streaks. Both Trepids and Rasks were determined to annihilate the other, and anyone who stood in their way. To their credit the X-Men stood firm, Beast dodging Electra's attack as Cyclops blasted an amphibious looking mutant who's long slimy tongue threatened to drag Rogue's feet out from under her. Up above, Storm pinpointed a mutant cast entirely out of water and threw down a lightning bolt to smite him. Magneto could not tell which side the fallen man had been on. Vixen pounced, knocking over two mutants as though they were little more than skittles, before one unleashed a blast of crystal that stung the wolf through her thick pelt, making her whimper unhappily. But even as Xavier's children made their stand, it became chillingly obvious as Kitty was hit in the face by a ball of molten metal that they were gravely outnumbered. 


	9. 09

Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel, Ilehana Xavier to Corrinth, Blaze and all other OCs to me.  
  
A/N: The bit about Gambit owing Blaze a drink is a referral to Empowered, when a much less scary Blaze bought him a beer as a consolation after she and Vixen beat him to something Magneto wanted. Didn't start off this story with the intention of making Blaze so dark and disturbed, its just kinda happened. She's not all bad really, honest! All reviews greatly appreciated.  
  
09  
  
"I'se seem to remember I owe you a drink?" Gambit commented without even glancing away from the car chase on the bar's TV.  
  
"Tequila, and make 'em big ones." Blaze spoke directly to the barman, taking the stool besides her drinking buddy. What was wrong with her? She couldn't see properly anymore, her vision was blurred and tinted orange, and her mind picking up like wildfire on anything that she saw as remotely flammable. Her breath rasped in and out of her too hot, burning her delicate throat. All she could taste was steam; all she could smell was ash.  
  
"So this how easy you give up on vengeance?" Gambit finally averted his eyes from the screen and glanced at her. It seemed to take Blaze a lot of effort to focus her attention on him, and he couldn't hide the worry in his voice. "Or you got some idiote plan to save the day?"  
  
"Depends." Blaze replied. "On whether or not you'll help. I need to take out those cameras." She nodded back up to the TV. "The man driving that car is Magneto's, he's leading them right into the fight." Gambit took a double take at the TV broadcast, but didn't recognise the man. He could feel Blaze's eyes burning into the back of his neck until he looked back at her. "Magneto doesn't ever need to know it was you. He doesn't know you're here."  
  
"An' how I supposed to get onto a helicopter when it flyin' Cherie?" He asked sarcastically. Blaze only shrugged; it hadn't crossed her mind that he might find it a problem. "You'll think of something."  
  
"I don't even wanna know what you gonna be doin' to stop all this." Remy muttered in reply. Taking a deep breath he met Blaze's eyes, not backing down as she stared at him unfocused. "You like playin' games, Chere, here's the deal. I do this, but only on one condition. When this all over, you go back with the X-Men. You let the Xaviers help you." He took hold of her hand in his fingerless glove, shocked briefly at how warm she was. "This ain't you Petite, you ain't smiled once since I found you. This ain't my friend, Amie........."  
  
Briefly, he almost reached her, the real Blaze. The Blaze who laughed readily at his jokes even when no one else found them funny, the Blaze who'd do anything for the people she cared about. But then she was gone, replaced again by this fire-demon with a will of forged steel. It seemed a Blaze consumed by her powers was even more stubborn than the usual sort of Blaze.  
  
"That's your condition?" He nodded, before she continued. "Then this is mine. I'll go back to Bayville if you will leave Magneto."  
  
"I can't do that." He warned. "He........."  
  
"Will have to get through me if he wants to hurt you." Blaze snapped, hair like an aura of flame about her, eyes on fire. "And that's not as easy as it looks."  
  
"I don't know." Gambit mused, "It don't look too easy right now." He shook his head and changed his grip on Blaze's hand into a firm handshake. "We got a deal then Blaze?"  
  
The corner of her mouth twitched, rose-red lips moving into a smirk. She took his handshake and turned it into a fighter's clasp, grasped hard as though for an arm-wrestling match.  
  
"We'll show them all what we thieves are worth." She swore, making Gambit smile.  
  
"I'll drink to that."  
  
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
  
He waited on a rooftop, long trench coat billowing around him in the night breeze as he crouched, extended metallic pole in hand. At the buzzing of the first helicopter he started forward at a run, knowing the lead 'copter was the police one. He did not want to end up in that one especially. As the second started to whir closer, Gambit lodged the pole against the roof and took off. Somehow he made it, landing cat-like with pole in hand amongst the terrified TV crew.  
  
"Bin waitin' for you." He smiled, reaching out grabbing the TV camera from the cameraman. "Mind if I borrow this?" His hands throbbed as his power went into the machine, then with a grunt he threw the device back into the air. It exploded, making the pilot drive the helicopter suddenly sideways in shock. That suited Gambit fine, and the third 'copter was just coming alongside.  
  
Taking his pole in hand, an attachment from his inside trench coat pocket turned the implement into a means to launch a grappling hook across to the other vehicle. Without saying anything, he fired the rope, smiling as it caught true on the third helicopter's runners. A quick tug to make sure it was secure and he was swinging out over open air, the road below him a very long way down. Gambit passed right under the belly of the news 'copter, even as its occupants cried out in shock. A back flip and he was inside again, snatching the camera from the startled camerawoman this time, smiling sweetly at her.  
  
"Merci, Cherie." He offered, winking as he tossed her camera out the door. "Sorry I have to do this to you." Then he was gone again, dropping back out on the long rope still attached to the machine as the TV crew, pretty camerawoman included, leaned out to see where he had got to. Rope in his hands, he swung out his feet, catching a fire escape stairway and simultaneously clicking the rope release button on his pole. The helicopter flew straight up as soon as Gambit had landed, the pilot obviously not impressed with strange mutant visitors dropping out of the sky uninvited. Gambit didn't look back, but made his way instead back up to the rooftops.  
  
The sight that greeted him made him shield his eyes with his hand. Night was lit up like day as a huge blast went off not a block away. A dome of fire reached up uninterrupted and glorious into the nighttime sky, a wave of heat smashing against him, hot air moving like the tide that casts ripples in sand. Then the sound hit, a wall of noise that could break bones, an explosive sound that reverberated in the hot air and made the building underneath him shake. He gasped as the force of the blast knocked the air from his lungs, the air he dragged back in tasting thick like charcoal.  
  
Blaze had found her vengeance, and her powers had seized their moment. 


	10. 10

Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel, Ilehana Xavier to Corrinth, Blaze and all other OCs to me.  
  
A/N: All reviews greatly appreciated.  
  
10  
  
Xavier sensed her, but Ilehana-as-wolf had smelt the ash on the wind mere seconds earlier. Through the tumultuous thoughts of the battling X-Men and their menagerie of opponents both father and daughter blasted their command.  
  
RETREAT!   
  
There was no room to argue, the command imprinted on the minds of the X-Men even as the more telepathically aware of their opponents searched the surroundings to try and find the source of the voice they had just thought they had heard. Xavier flicked the controls on the X-Jet, coming to hover over what was left of the main street. Kurt and Jean employed their powers, each making hasty return trips to make sure all the X-Men were back on board the craft as soon as possible.  
  
Magneto smiled. Below, the brief confusion the telepathic shout had invoked dissipated as both Rasks and Trepids found themselves confronted with their real enemies. So, the mighty Charles Xavier was still not as strong as the Master of Magnetism. He would still rather call back his precious X-Men than press on for glory and the new dawn. Well, it mattered not to Magneto. What mattered now was the whereabouts of his helicopters. They should have been here already.........  
  
Suddenly Magneto sensed foul play. The X-Men he had seen below was not their full complement. So, Charles had had information about his plans for these petty gangs of mutants? By taking away the TV crews, Magneto's efforts were suddenly almost a waste. He felt bitterly disappointed, but at the same time, a touch impressed. His old foe was becoming more of a challenge, and so life was becoming interesting.  
  
In the X-Jet, heads were being shaken as pain ran though more than one skull, so powerful had the collective Xavier telepathy been. Jean however had found herself slightly better protected via the strength of her own powers. It was she who found the words to ask the question all of them were thinking.  
  
"What's going on, Professor? Why are we retreating?"  
  
"Because," Xavier replied as he tugged at the jet's controls, pulling the craft up into a near-vertical climb. "Its about to get very, very dangerous down there."  
  
Down on the asphalt, Electra and Crush found themselves face to face at long last. The smirk on his face as he landed a bone-crushing punch to her ribcage turned into annoyance and then pain as she reached up and grabbed hold of the side of his skull. Pain flooded his senses like the sheer brilliance of electricity she pumped into him. He dropped to his knees before one of his allies yelled out in confusion. Electra looked up from her attack on Crush, one of those pesky kids had not left with the rest? But no, the uniform might be grossly the same, but this figure was erringly familiar.  
  
"Blaze." The blue-haired woman spoke harshly, not forgetting to send one last finishing bolt through Crush as he knelt on the ground, before turning on the thief as she approached. "So we have you to thank for the interference of those mutant children? I should have known you were no ordinary thief, that it was all a ploy to bring another gang in on Magneto's generous offer." Electra was aware of her second-in-command Mercury stood by her shoulder. Blaze would not walk away from this.  
  
Blaze barely even saw the combined force of molten metal and electricity darting towards her. Absently she dodged the attack, leaping to one side as the metal splattered onto the wall of the building behind her, electric bolt fizzling out. Before Electra could draw together another offensive, she found herself slipping into painful unconsciousness, her and Mercury's heads bashed together by the recovering Crush. Blaze did not even see them; she had spotted the hated figure of Magneto stood above them on the rooftop. Fire shivered over her flesh, and she became pure flame.  
  
"You will not do this." She told the solitary figure, somehow knowing that he could hear her. All around her individual fights were broken off as eyes were drawn to the figure of flames. The smarter mutants backed off, the really clever beginning to run. "I will not let you make people live in fear of us."  
  
"It is inevitable," Magneto replied, voice stoic even as his heart began to race. Fire span like red tendrils around Blaze's form, the air becoming hot, the asphalt beneath her feet starting to blister. But her eyes remained focused on him, soulless red-brown orbs. "When there are mutants like you in this world."  
  
"No." Blaze answered, raising her arms, palms facing outwards towards both Rask and Trepid ends of the thoroughfare. Her eyes closed as if in slow motion. Then, in a breath, she let go.  
  
Betrayal, dismay, disappointment, hatred, self-loathing, emptiness, loss, fear, rejection......... The feelings Blaze had unwittingly been storing, feeding like the first sparks of a campfire now became a torrent of fuel for her power. Her barriers, the parts that kept her power contained within her, and also her within her self, evaporated in ash and steam and smoke. Fire boomed around her, forcefully rippling over the tarmac, smashing glass from windows, carrying gang members away from the scene of the battle in a wave of bright anguish, red emotion.  
  
The fire reached up far above her into the night sky, grasping to draw Magneto into it, but he turned and ran. The height of the building he stood on gave him enough distance that he could escape. The heat, the power of it was intense, like living hysteria. But in the centre of this demon-magic, this dragon-fire, Blaze stood untouched and unmoved. The almost as suddenly as she had unleashed the true potential of her mutation, she was spent. The fire died with the exception of a few pockets of smouldering rubble. Rasks and Trepids alike groaned and rolled on the street, dragging themselves away, all will to fight gone with the flames. Blaze crashed to her knees, face ashen and breathing heavy. She knew nothing else. 


	11. 11

Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel, Ilehana Xavier to Corrinth, Blaze and all other OCs to me.  
  
A/N: All reviews greatly appreciated.  
  
11  
  
Blaze?   
  
She was floating, Xavier's mind voice numb like the buzzing of some far away bee.  
  
Blaze!   
  
Ilehana did not hum, she gave a singsong wolf-call to wherever it was the Blaze's mind found itself, drifting on a summer haze.  
  
"Blaze? Can you hear me?" Scott hadn't realised that the Xaviers were trying the same thing he was, just telepathically. Somehow his words, with grounding in a here and now, had more of an effect.  
  
"Huh?" The redhead snapped out of her dream of golden sunshine, elegant grasses, pollen and sand and barefooted pleasure to see a dark skyline and smell burnt charcoal. "Oh." She coughed, eyes watering a little before she could open them. Her voice was breathless and husky, dry on her chest. "I remember........."  
  
"Are you alright?" Ilehana forcefully pushed Cyclops to one side, crouching by Blaze and staring at her friend critically.  
  
"Actually," Blaze replied, pushing her ash-blackened curls back from her face and leaving a trail of soot from her fingertips across her cheek. "I feel much better. Almost as if all the bad things I was feeling have gone up in smoke."  
  
"Almost?" Kurt asked incredulously, staring about the X-Men at the charred tarmac and smashed windows. Despite the destruction, Vixen was smiling.  
  
"You're awake for five seconds and already you're making really bad jokes. Sounds like you're back to yourself to me." Ilehana's infective smile caught like dry tinder, and Blaze grinned manically. Then she laughed, eyes sparkling. For a moment the X-Men glanced uncertainly at each other, but the laughter was the pure, ridiculous sort that can only happen in the seconds beyond when you thought you might die. No one quite knew why, but when Xavier joined his daughter and Blaze in the hidden joke, the X-Men followed, and all was well.  
  
"Somebody help me up?" Blaze finally asked when she realised her bones were aching and her muscles wouldn't obey her command. Jean obliged, the telekinetic tug setting the English girl back on her feet gracefully. "Thank you." Blaze offered, shocking Jean slightly. She didn't think Blaze had said more than three words to her before that, too much Ilehana's short- tempered sidekick. Whatever had just happened with Blaze's powers, the effect was quite dramatic.  
  
"Well, you got rid of the gang members." Beast praised Blaze pointedly. "And Magneto. Well done."  
  
"But it remains to be seen if Magneto got the television coverage he wanted for this demonstration. If he did, your display of powers may have helped his cause, Blaze." Charles counselled sagely, but Blaze shook her head.  
  
"Its been taken care of, trust me." She looked straight at Rogue, who still found cause to squirm a little under Blaze's glance. "You've a good man there. Don't mess it up, or there will be a whole new meaning to the phrase 'Southern Fried Chicken'."  
  
"Hey!" Rogue started indignantly, but Kitty elbowed her sharply, whispering, "I think that's as much of a blessing as your gonna get out of her, Rogue. Blaze means she won't interfere with you an' Gambit, okay?" Rogue nodded sullenly, still somehow convinced there had been an insult from Blaze to her in that comment.  
  
"So, does Gambit need a ride home?" Storm offered, eyebrow raised, intrigued as to what this all meant for Magneto's plans? Had Blaze scuppered more than one of his grand ideas in one day?  
  
"Nah, he's taken Ilehana's jeep." Blaze answered, smiling again sweetly as the whole crew set off towards the waiting X-Jet. Ilehana made a 'huh' noise at the back of her throat, a wolfish indignation, throwing her car keys up in the air once and catching them again. If he scratched the paintwork.........  
  
"Won't he need the keys to take the car?" Kurt pointed out as Ilehana's keys found themselves back in a secret pocket of her uniform. Blaze actually laughed aloud at the German's innocence.  
  
"You have got to be kidding!"  
  
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Gambit liked this car. He liked the open road, and he liked heading south, felt like he was going home. He wasn't too keen on whatever Ilehana had stuffed in her CD player, but at least the radio worked. A big black jet scooped low out of the sky and thrummed by dramatically, Gambit saluting the passing X-Men with a grin.  
  
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"So." Logan was waiting for Ilehana after the debriefing. She was tired, bedraggled and was looking forward to getting back to her and Blaze's flat for a nice long shower. But the way Wolverine greeted her, arms folded across his chest and a pout on like a sulky child made her think Blaze might just beat her to the bathroom. By about an hour. Still she stopped and looked at him, meeting his eyes as though oblivious to his bad mood. "Had fun without me? Those thieves keep you better entertained than me or somethin'?"  
  
"It was a matter of responsibility, Logan." Ilehana replied shortly, "My responsibility for Blaze, as her friend."  
  
"An' the Cajun? You gotta flame for ole Gumbo now?"  
  
"Logan, don't be so damn stupid!" Vixen snapped; hands balled into fists by her side at the very suggestion of it. Shaking her head she forced herself to relax, it wasn't his fault he felt neglected. Well, she could do something about that......... Smiling coyly she spoke again in a softer tone. "I promise I'll make it up to you, alright?"  
  
"Yeah?" Logan liked the sound of that, a smile twitching the corner of his mouth as Vixen stepped closer enticingly. "How?" He growled.  
  
"I won't get into a scrap without you next time!" Vixen laughed, kissing him quickly and making her escape. 


	12. 12

Disclaimer: The X-Men belong to Marvel, Ilehana Xavier to Corrinth, Blaze and all other OCs to me.  
  
A/N: Last chapter; hope you enjoy! All reviews greatly appreciated.  
  
Epilogue  
  
"You know, swimmin'll improve your fitness and stamina........."  
  
"If my stamina's in doubt Wolverine," Blaze replied, "You can take me on anytime."  
  
"Give her a break, Logan." Ilehana quipped. "If she doesn't want to go in the pool then we have to just give her a little........." Blaze, stood on the edge of the Xavier Institute swimming pool suddenly felt herself knocked off her feet by something very, very strong and hairy. PUSH! Ilehana- as-bear couldn't keep the laughter from her mind voice as her friend hit the water with a splash, and half the pool's contents suddenly disappeared in a cloud of steam. Logan, not to mention all the other X-Men gathered for the spontaneous pool party/barbecue, cackled pleasantly as Blaze dragged herself sulkily from the water. She wasn't exactly the water-babe type.  
  
"This a private pool party," A familiar voice asked, "Or can anyone throw Blaze in the water?"  
  
"I'd like to see you try it, Cajun." Blaze replied stubbornly, before smiling at her friend and shaking the water from her body and hair with a splinter of power. Wearing little besides a halter-necked chestnut brown bikini, the suggestion of power dried her off well before she crossed the grass back to her waiting sun lounger to pick up her book.  
  
"How'd you get in here, Bub?" Logan accosted Remy cruelly. "You break our security systems, or someone let you in?"  
  
"Whatever help you sleep at night, Wolverine." Gambit shrugged agreeably, as Rogue jumped to his defence.  
  
"Gambit don't work for Magneto no more, Wolverine, so you might as well keep a few manners in that thick head of yours." Dressed in her normal get- up, nobody had even suggested Rogue take a dip with the other students, for which she was grateful; even if she did feel a bit overshadowed by the bikini-ed likes of Blaze and Storm. Still, at least Gambit wasn't too distracted, right?  
  
"An' I even brought peace offerin's." Remy pointed out, perching on the end of Rogue's sun lounger and holding up a pack of bottled beers. Logan's stern expression melted a little as Ilehana and Beast, who was minding the barbeque, grinned. Those three appeased as to his presence, Remy turned to Blaze and offered her a bottle.  
  
"You know I'm not sure I can allow........." Xavier was all too aware that most of his students now knew Blaze was not much older than them. Drinking underage in front of them was hardly the example he needed Blaze to set. Besides him, the now human Ilehana warned him off disciplining Blaze again with one glance and a hasty "Dad........." Did he really want to start all this off again? Xavier nodded, and shut his mouth, but Blaze had already cottoned on.  
  
"No thanks, Rem. I don't think that's such a good idea." Blaze answered sweetly, before turning to Xavier. "Not that that means you can enrol me in that daft high school of yours, Professor." Xavier nodded his appreciation as Gambit shrugged and opened the bottle for himself, starting up an easy conversation with Rogue and Kitty about the concert he'd missed. Kitty was quite chatty, but Rogue was a little shy to begin with. Blaze stoically ignored Remy's efforts at flirting with her rival, leafing casually through her book and enjoying the hot sun on her bronzed skin.  
  
"What is your book about, Blaze?" Xavier asked, hoping to begin again with this fire-elemental who'd become a part of his team without him knowing hardly anything about her. Appreciating that Xavier was really trying, Blaze closed the text and met his eyes.  
  
"Meditation." She answered honestly. "It seems my powers are harder to control when I'm emotional about something." Dropping her long eyelashes to cover her big brown eyes, she didn't need to elaborate. Unthinking, Xavier's glance fell on Gambit and Rogue, alone now Kitty had gone back in the pool with Kurt. "I thought meditation might help me stay in control, and I'll try anything once." Blaze smiled, "Just ask Ilehana."  
  
"No," Ilehana enthused, "Please don't. Too many painful memories!"  
  
"So," Xavier ignored his daughter as half of the X-Men now tried to get out of her exactly what Blaze had exposed her to. "Are you glad to be home, Blaze? To be back where you belong?"  
  
"I don't know." Blaze answered honestly. "It depends."  
  
"On what?" Xavier wanted to know.  
  
"On how long those burgers of Beast's are gonna take to be ready? I'm famished!" Blaze chirped, smiling. Xavier could only sigh in relief.  
  
(Roll credits..........................) 


End file.
